Tragedy cuts deep across close-knit community

Published: Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 12:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 6:31 a.m.

Riegelwood | The tightness of the Riegelwood community might make the healing process a little easier. But that same closeness cuts the wound much deeper.

Residents of the small Columbus County locale tried to make sense Friday and Saturday of the tragedy that snatched at least eight people, including two young children, from their midst, injured 20, and destroyed or damaged the homes of 100 more people one week before Thanksgiving.

They're coping in the only ways they know how - returning to work, donating to local churches and charity organizations, volunteering wherever needed, cooking food for emergency workers, seeing counselors and praying for themselves, their families and their neighbors. They hope the vows of local, state and federal officials to ensure a quick recovery and rebuilding process are realized.

Residents, including emergency officials, agreed they'd never experienced such a tragedy in their backyards. Until shortly before sunrise Thursday, no one here had ever seen anything like the vicious twister that dropped from the sky, spinning 200 mph winds, or the jagged, half-mile-wide wound it would leave in its wake just moments later.

That wound - those dead or hurt, the homes splintered, the lives shattered - is one no one here bears alone.

"We all know somebody" who died, said John Sorensen, a manager at the Riegelwood Piggly Wiggly, who on Friday dropped a donation from the grocery chain at a church down the street.

A place of

deep roots

Unlike much of Southeastern North Carolina, Riegelwood is not a transient community, where residents come and go. It's a place where generation after generation worked at places like International Paper, Riegelwood's largest employer, or at the local fire station.

It's a place where people see each other regularly at church, the grocery store, the post office or beauty salon, all located on Riegelwood's main thoroughfare. The destruction was only one left turn away.

Gore and her husband, John, live not far from the tornado's path and heard it roar past their house a day earlier. Cheryl Gore said the wind sucked water from her in-ground pool, holding it suspended for a moment before dropping it back down.

In nearly four decades in Riegelwood, Gore said she had nothing to compare it with.

"We're doing hair, but a half a mile away there's so much death and devastation," she said. "It's very unnerving. At the end of the day, we were all so helpless."

John Gore, with puffy eyes and a somber expression, walked into the beauty salon shortly after making his first visit to the scene of the tornado's aftermath.

"From what I just saw up there, that's the worst devastation," said Gore, who moved to Riegelwood as a young boy and retired from the paper mill. "It looks like a bomb just hit. I can't get over it."

Gore recalled how a group of Riegelwood residents built the Riegelwood Community Center when he was 6 or 7 years old. A couple years later, he said, his youth baseball team went 26-0 on fields built alongside the center. Friday, Gov. Mike Easley and other dignitaries held a news conference near first base on one of those fields.

"People here have a lot of pride," he said.

Then he pointed to houses nearby, reciting from memory current and former owners.

"Everybody knows everybody," he said. "Most of the people who are here have been here for quite some time."

'Some semblance' of normal

Government assessment teams combed the tornado site Thursday and Friday, trying to quantify the damage to determine what kind of federal or state aid affected homeowners will be eligible for - possibly low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Board of Commissioners who has served as a media contact after the tragedy, said getting the victims adequate housing and returning them to their jobs or schools quickly would be the top priority.

"It probably won't ever be the same for them, but it might return to some semblance of what might be considered normal," Godwin said.

When Hurricane Floyd blew through Southeastern North Carolina in 1999, 240 homes in Columbus County were uninhabitable, Godwin said.

"It took us almost five years to replace those," he said.

'We stay together'

While physical damage from the twister should be repaired in time, emotional wounds can last a lifetime, said Pastor Bill Altman of the Wesley United Methodist Church, one of several churches on Riegelwood's main stretch, Old Stage Road.

"Spiritually, emotionally, it takes longer to heal," he said. "That's the way we're made up."

There's no better example of the close-knit Riegelwood community than at Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire-Rescue.

Fire Chief Steve Camlin and Rescue Chief Donna Hammond grew up in Riegelwood two doors down from each other. Hammond's father was also rescue chief and her son is assistant fire chief.

The department experienced a huge loss of its own Thursday, when volunteer firefighter Michael Browne, 25, perished in the tornado along with his father and stepmother, Tim and Mary Mai. His daughter, 2-year-old Cheyenne, was critically injured.

Each with about 30 years of experience in emergency work, Camlin and Hammond said they'd never seen so much death in one place. Most of the department's 38 members responded to the tornado scene, they said.

Emotionally, Hammond said, they'd take it a day at a time and try to keep busy.

"We stay together," she said. "We talk. We have our own support system."

Finding a blessing

Altman, the pastor, said he helped counsel 43 students Friday at Riegelwood's elementary school, most of whom had family members killed or injured or their homes destroyed.

At church services last week, Altman said he preached about Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the poor and afflicted. At church services today, he said, he would call on his parishioners to care for the less fortunate as she did.

Last week, he said, "I had no idea that we would be put to such an opportunity to show God's love so quickly."

Pastor Bill Haddock of Wrightsboro United Methodist Church in Wilmington, who volunteered in Riegelwood Friday, said he witnessed a "tremendous outpouring" of love and concern for the victims. He encouraged residents not to forget as they get busy with the holiday season.

"I just hope that people will remember that there are people right here in our extended community that are grieving, and they lost everything," Haddock said.

At Riegelwood Baptist Church, volunteer Julie Askew, who grew up in that church and returned after college, said probably every church member had at least called to offer support.

About 50 members showed up Thursday to volunteer.

Askew described Thursday's tornado as "mind-boggling."

"But you know, you can always find a blessing in a time like this," she said.

"When you have a multi-generational community like this, you are going to have strong community ties and strong church ties. That is why Riegelwood's going to be OK."

<p>Riegelwood | The tightness of the Riegelwood community might make the healing process a little easier. But that same closeness cuts the wound much deeper.</p><p>Residents of the small Columbus County locale tried to make sense Friday and Saturday of the tragedy that snatched at least eight people, including two young children, from their midst, injured 20, and destroyed or damaged the homes of 100 more people one week before <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/holidays01"><b>Thanksgiving</b></a>.</p><p>They're coping in the only ways they know how - returning to work, donating to local churches and charity organizations, volunteering wherever needed, cooking food for emergency workers, seeing counselors and praying for themselves, their families and their neighbors. They hope the vows of local, state and federal officials to ensure a quick recovery and rebuilding process are realized.</p><p>Residents, including emergency officials, agreed they'd never experienced such a tragedy in their backyards. Until shortly before sunrise Thursday, no one here had ever seen anything like the vicious twister that dropped from the sky, spinning 200 mph winds, or the jagged, half-mile-wide wound it would leave in its wake just moments later.</p><p>That wound - those dead or hurt, the homes splintered, the lives shattered - is one no one here bears alone.</p><p>"We all know somebody" who died, said John Sorensen, a manager at the Riegelwood Piggly Wiggly, who on Friday dropped a donation from the grocery chain at a church down the street.</p><p>A place of</p><p>deep roots</p><p>Unlike much of Southeastern North Carolina, Riegelwood is not a transient community, where residents come and go. It's a place where generation after generation worked at places like International Paper, Riegelwood's largest employer, or at the local fire station.</p><p>It's a place where people see each other regularly at church, the grocery store, the post office or beauty salon, all located on Riegelwood's main thoroughfare. The destruction was only one left turn away.</p><p>Friday morning, Cheryl Gore's business, Riegelwood Beauty Salon, served a full complement of customers.</p><p>Gore and her husband, John, live not far from the tornado's path and heard it roar past their house a day earlier. Cheryl Gore said the wind sucked water from her in-ground pool, holding it suspended for a moment before dropping it back down.</p><p>In nearly four decades in Riegelwood, Gore said she had nothing to compare it with.</p><p>"We're doing hair, but a half a mile away there's so much death and devastation," she said. "It's very unnerving. At the end of the day, we were all so helpless."</p><p>John Gore, with puffy eyes and a somber expression, walked into the beauty salon shortly after making his first visit to the scene of the tornado's aftermath.</p><p>"From what I just saw up there, that's the worst devastation," said Gore, who moved to Riegelwood as a young boy and retired from the paper mill. "It looks like a bomb just hit. I can't get over it."</p><p>Gore recalled how a group of Riegelwood residents built the Riegelwood Community Center when he was 6 or 7 years old. A couple years later, he said, his youth baseball team went 26-0 on fields built alongside the center. Friday, Gov. <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9925"><b>Mike Easley</b></a> and other dignitaries held a news conference near first base on one of those fields.</p><p>"People here have a lot of pride," he said.</p><p>Then he pointed to houses nearby, reciting from memory current and former owners.</p><p>"Everybody knows everybody," he said. "Most of the people who are here have been here for quite some time."</p><p>'Some semblance' of normal</p><p>Government assessment teams combed the tornado site Thursday and Friday, trying to quantify the damage to determine what kind of federal or state aid affected homeowners will be eligible for - possibly low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.</p><p>Kip Godwin, chairman of the Columbus County Board of Commissioners who has served as a media contact after the tragedy, said getting the victims adequate housing and returning them to their jobs or schools quickly would be the top priority.</p><p>"It probably won't ever be the same for them, but it might return to some semblance of what might be considered normal," Godwin said.</p><p>When <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/hurricane"><b>Hurricane</b></a> Floyd blew through Southeastern North Carolina in 1999, 240 homes in Columbus County were uninhabitable, Godwin said.</p><p>"It took us almost five years to replace those," he said.</p><p>'We stay together'</p><p>While physical damage from the twister should be repaired in time, emotional wounds can last a lifetime, said Pastor Bill Altman of the Wesley United Methodist Church, one of several churches on Riegelwood's main stretch, Old Stage Road.</p><p>"Spiritually, emotionally, it takes longer to heal," he said. "That's the way we're made up."</p><p>There's no better example of the close-knit Riegelwood community than at Acme-Delco-Riegelwood Fire-Rescue.</p><p>Fire Chief Steve Camlin and Rescue Chief Donna Hammond grew up in Riegelwood two doors down from each other. Hammond's father was also rescue chief and her son is assistant fire chief.</p><p>The department experienced a huge loss of its own Thursday, when volunteer firefighter Michael Browne, 25, perished in the tornado along with his father and stepmother, Tim and Mary Mai. His daughter, 2-year-old Cheyenne, was critically injured.</p><p>Each with about 30 years of experience in emergency work, Camlin and Hammond said they'd never seen so much death in one place. Most of the department's 38 members responded to the tornado scene, they said.</p><p>Emotionally, Hammond said, they'd take it a day at a time and try to keep busy.</p><p>"We stay together," she said. "We talk. We have our own support system."</p><p>Finding a blessing</p><p>Altman, the pastor, said he helped counsel 43 students Friday at Riegelwood's elementary school, most of whom had family members killed or injured or their homes destroyed.</p><p>At church services last week, Altman said he preached about Mother Teresa, who devoted her life to helping the poor and afflicted. At church services today, he said, he would call on his parishioners to care for the less fortunate as she did.</p><p>Last week, he said, "I had no idea that we would be put to such an opportunity to show God's love so quickly."</p><p>Pastor Bill Haddock of Wrightsboro United Methodist Church in Wilmington, who volunteered in Riegelwood Friday, said he witnessed a "tremendous outpouring" of love and concern for the victims. He encouraged residents not to forget as they get busy with the holiday season.</p><p>"I just hope that people will remember that there are people right here in our extended community that are grieving, and they lost everything," Haddock said.</p><p>At Riegelwood Baptist Church, volunteer Julie Askew, who grew up in that church and returned after college, said probably every church member had at least called to offer support.</p><p>About 50 members showed up Thursday to volunteer.</p><p>Askew described Thursday's tornado as "mind-boggling."</p><p>"But you know, you can always find a blessing in a time like this," she said.</p><p>"When you have a multi-generational community like this, you are going to have strong community ties and strong church ties. That is why Riegelwood's going to be OK."</p><p>Patrick Gannon: 343-2328</p><p>patrick.gannon@starnewsonline.com</p>